• 31 minutes 44 seconds
    #575 - Andrew McCarthy: Why Male Friendship Is Hard To Come By

    Andrew McCarthy is a New York Times bestselling author, travel writer, and filmmaker. He chats with Trey Elling about his newest book, WHO NEEDS FRIENDS: AN UNSCIENTIFIC EXAMINATION OF MALE FRIENDSHIP ACROSS AMERICA. Topics include:

    • The genesis of the book (0:00)
    • Small town America (3:40)
    • Vulnerability (7:33)
    • Have men always struggled to share feelings? (13:54)
    • Lessons learned in Texas (17:23)
    • Men's groups (22:26)
    • Making friends in adulthood (26:40)
    23 April 2026, 12:52 pm
  • 58 minutes 19 seconds
    #574 - Yakov Smirnoff's Crusade To Find If Comedy Still Wants Him

    The iconic Yakov Smirnoff chats with Trey Elling at Cap City Comedy Club, during the 2026 Moontower Comedy Festival! Topics include:

    • What he's learned from getting back out on the road (0:00)
    • Remaining optimistic with comedy (11:25)
    • Losing his career with the fall of communism (19:03)
    • Living with Sam Kinison & Andrew Dice Clay (26:44)
    • Yakov isn't actually Russian (33:56)
    • Questioning the 'legend' label (35:54)
    • The psychology of laughter in relationships (40:14)
    • Fathering a baby at 75 (44:26)
    • What he hopes to soon learn about standup (46:31)
    • An ode to Mitzi Shore (52:48)
    • An ode to standup (54:42)
    • What he loves about this country (55:56)


    For more on Yakov, including upcoming tour dates: https://yakov.com/

    The Sport of Life aims for entertaining & informative long-form conversations with comedians, filmmakers, musicians, intellectuals, authors, and sports figures!The website: https://withtreyelling.com/The Sport of Life on ESPN Austin, weekdays from 6-7pm CT: https://www.1027espn.com/show/the-sport-of-life-trey-elling/On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/withtreyelling/On Twitter: https://x.com/withtreyellingOn Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/withtreyelling

    17 April 2026, 6:18 pm
  • 54 minutes 46 seconds
    #573 - Josh Wolf: Putting The Fun In Standup Comedy

    Comedian Josh Wolf chats with Trey Elling, prior to his latest stop at Cap City Comedy Club in Austin. Topics include:

    • Smedium t-shirt guys (0:00)
    • In-shape grandpa (4:21)
    • Competing against your kids (11:15)
    • Moving someplace completely foreign (21:27)
    • Living in Seattle in the 1990s (32:49)
    • An ode to fatherhood (40:13)
    • An ode to standup (46:04)
    28 March 2026, 1:57 pm
  • 35 minutes 1 second
    #572 - Josh Scherer: How To Keep Making Rad Content

    Josh Scherer of Mythical Kitchen chats with Trey Elling, prior to his live taping of Mythical Kitchen at SXSW! Topics include:

    • The art of the interview (0:00)
    • Crushing content creation (9:02)
    • Trey's last meal...Malort (13:37)
    • Football...fantasy and real (16:53)
    • Throwing hammer at UCLA (21:38)
    • Music preferences (28:26)
    • Good books (30:59)
    • Cooking humanely harvested human (32:49)
    23 March 2026, 11:11 am
  • 28 minutes 56 seconds
    #571 - Zach & Danny Guarino of the Bread Basket Podcast!

    Brothers Danny & Zach Guarino of the Bread Basket podcast chat w/ Trey Elling! Topics include:

    • Brothers in LA (0:00)
    • Most Valuable... (5:39)
    • Least Valuable... (11:29)
    • Hawaii (17:47)
    • Mock-drafting bread (21:21)
    19 March 2026, 1:34 am
  • 50 minutes 50 seconds
    #570 - Barry Corbin: The Shakespeare of West Texas

    Legendary actor and storyteller Barry Corbin chats with Trey Elling, prior to performing his live show, "An Evening with Barry Corbin", to kick off the Lone Star Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Bastrop on February 18th. Topics include:

    • Shakespeare (0:00)
    • Being Texan (9:31)
    • No Country For Old Men (12:39)
    • Tommy Lee Jones (20:07)
    • Urban Cowboy (22:03)
    • Stir Crazy (30:36)
    • Actors as directors (36:25)
    • Working with Scorsese (40:01)
    • An ode to storytelling (45:25)
    17 February 2026, 12:11 pm
  • 36 minutes 55 seconds
    #569 - Kenny G: A Philosophy of Performance

    Legendary musician Kenny G chats with Trey Elling, just days after performing the National Anthem with Charlie Puth at Super Bowl LX. Topics include:

    • How the Super Bowl op happened (0:00)
    • Pre-show nerves (1:27)
    • First to arrive and last to leave (4:41)
    • Failure (13:11)
    • Obsession with perfection (15:13)
    • Double win at the Super Bowl (20:51)
    • Golf (23:51)
    • His Tiger Woods story (28:23)
    • Favorite romantic song? (31:10)
    • An ode to making music (32:39)
    11 February 2026, 12:32 pm
  • 23 minutes 22 seconds
    #568 - Sal Vulcano: A More-Than-Practical Standup Comedian

    Comedian and Impractical Jokers alum Sal Vulcano chats with Trey Elling, prior to his show at ACL Live at the Moody Theater on Sunday, February 1st.

    The guys discuss Sal's many years as a comic, his revered special, Terrified, fatherhood, vulnerability on stage, a shared disdain for the wind and traffic, and what Sal loves about standup!

    31 January 2026, 3:11 pm
  • 23 minutes 59 seconds
    #567 - Jay Pharoah: How To Go From Fat Kid To Funny Man

    Comedian and actor Jay Pharoah chats with Trey Elling about their shared past as fat kids, allowing himself to be vulnerable as a comic, lessons learned from six years at SNL, and what he loves about standup!

    30 January 2026, 7:49 pm
  • 18 minutes 54 seconds
    #566 - Rhys Darby: How To Stay True To Yourself In Comedy

    Comedian & actor Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords, Our Flag Means Death, Yes Man, the Jumanji reboot) chats with Trey Elling about his standup philosophies and some highlights from his film career. Topics include:

    • Refamiliarizing with standup (0:00)
    • Going after AI (2:20)
    • Sound effects (4:31)
    • Jim Carrey (7:28)
    • Flight of the Conchords (10:58)
    • Fake vomit (13:43)
    • Unrealized entertainment dreams (16:21)
    21 January 2026, 2:39 pm
  • 35 minutes 51 seconds
    #565 - Sean Patton: How To Make Standup Special Again

    Comedian & actor Sean Patton chats with Trey Elling. Sean is an immensely talented comedic storyteller and one of the most interesting people when it comes to discussing the philosophy of standup. Topics include:

    • Making Standup Special Again (0:00)
    • Crowd work is mostly lazy (7:13)
    • Sean's hobo joke (13:53)
    • Finding his standup voice (21:40)
    • An ode to THE ENGLISH TEACHER (29:44)
    18 January 2026, 3:12 pm
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